Daughter of Darkness
by CatBailey
Summary: Tom Riddle met a witch one night, a witch who did not know what she was. 9 months later, a young girl with extraordinary powers is born.
1. Chapter 1

CatBailey: There was a night, long ago, when a man named Tom Riddle spent the night with a young, attractive young witch. Little did he know that he left the unfortunate woman with an unexpected and unwelcome "souvenir". I do not own Harry Potter.

PROLOUGE

Tom Riddle, though he was hardly called that any longer, was upset. No, upset was an understatement. He was infuriated. _So_, he thought, _the Potter child is all that stands in my way? I had at least expected a grown man. But it will all be over, soon enough._

He was in the muggle town, which was unusual. And, he thought with a chuckle, "unsafe". As if. As though anyone stood a chance against him and his power. And tonight, the one person that could would be eliminated. He certainly deserved a night to himself, a night to drink. As he gulped down the draft, he caught sight of the woman ending her shift at the bar. As she struggled to pull on her apron, her elbow shot out to her side, knocking over four glasses being carried precariously by a passing waitress. As the glass shattered upon contact with the floor, Tom laughed, along with the other drunken muggles in the bar. Soon enough, though, the entertainment value of the muggle girl's mistake lost its touch, and everyone turned back to their drinks.

As Tom turned around to leave (he had charmed the bartender into forgetting his drink tab) he saw the waitress, not cleaning the mess, but charming the glasses to pick themselves up. She didn't use a wand, yet seemed unsure of what she was doing. As she looked, she glanced around, and made eye contact with Tom.

_No! How could I have been so stupid! It was the mistake of an utter imbecile!_ Tom thought, _she's a witch, and she recognized me! I'll have to kill her. But not here. This is a ministry town, I'd never escape. _Then, he thought with a smile, _It's also more fun to see her scared, knowing her life is over, to laugh at her pain as I use the torture curse on her, before I finally kill her.__Yes_, he thought, _I could enjoy this._

As he hurried out of the bar, he noticed the witch following him._Perfect,_ he thought.

"Please! Sir, wait!" the woman cried, desperate for his attention.

_Odd_, he thought, _does she actually _have_ a death wish?_

"Sir, please!" the woman was panting with the effort of trying to keep up with him. He realized that from this position, he could push her into the nearby alley, kill her, and no one would be the wiser. He smiled, preparing…

"Please don't tell anyone! I swear, I'm not some supernatural spawn of Satan!" the woman cried, tears in her eyes, "Please, believe me! Don't tell anyone, please!"

_What?_ Tom thought_ it's like she doesn't even know!_

"Please, please," the woman cried, having reached him by now. She put her face in her hands and whimpered into them, "Please, please, please. They'll send me back. They'll send me back to that hospital. Please sir, I'm not crazy, and you're not crazy, please don't tell anyone!"

Suddenly, Tom was transported back to a room, in a house full of children. There was one child in particular who stood out, who was… different. The other children were afraid of him because of his abilities. And it…it…it hurt him. It hurt him, and so he hurt them, in all the ways that he knew how. And as he looked at the pathetic woman on the ground, he wondered how on earth she couldn't know of the magical community that surrounded her at this very second. And try as he might to shake of that part of him, that poor, hurt little orphan, Tom Riddle, the boy whose father never wanted him, whose mother had died, he couldn't. He had avoided that part of him for his entire life, but every time he looked this pitiful woman in the eyes, saw her pain, and her struggle, he could not help but be that boy again. That poor, helpless little boy…

"Get up," he said gruffly, "You are in no danger around me."

The woman's eyes filled with relief and gratitude, "Thank you, sir, thank you!"

"Leave me, now," Tom said, concentrating on killing that emotion stirring in his chest. An emotion he never thought he'd feel again.

"Sir, you must let me do something to repay you! I insist!" And with that, the woman grabbed him arm and pulled him into a nearby building. "Good thing you happened to head in this direction, huh?"

Tom didn't know what was going on. Why couldn't he get this woman off of him? And…why didn't he want to?

"I hope you like leftover spaghetti! It's all the food I have at the moment."

_Now. Now. Now._ But Tom still couldn't bring himself to pull away from this witch, who didn't know herself, who didn't know who she was. She was his opposite in so many ways, why didn't he shake her off? Why?

She led them into her apartment, on the second floor. He could see it was small, and cramped. It had a couch-bed (in bed mode), a muggle television, and a small kitchenette in one corner. The carpet had holes all over it, and two pipes ran through the room. A poorly hidden hole in the wall decorated the majority of the far side of the room. As Tom looked around, astounded at what conditions she lived in, the woman spoke.

"Just, at least take this home with you," she said, "I wouldn't want to repay you with nothing."

Were it not for her obvious innocence and his ability to tell what she was thinking, Tom would have suspected her of trying to poison him or something. Instead, he accepted the spaghetti, pondering at how this woman could go about life like this. He had abandoned this attitude about life when he was a child. Who was this woman?

"Who are you?" he managed to say.

"Oh, of course! My name is Sanyu," she answered, "I know it's weird, but it means 'happiness', so hopefully, that accounts for something."

As Tom continued pondering this feeling growing inside him, the woman set about reading her home for this unexpected guest. Her lighthearted manner, her smile, her innocence…it emanated around her like a light, brightening the darkness he had grown to love, the darkness that his former self, the self he wanted to forget. His weak self. But suddenly, seeing this woman, this completely strange creature, he didn't want to forget that part of him. He wanted, for the first time, to be that somebody, that somebody who fit in with her, that happy, innocent somebody who deserved this spaghetti. Who deserved this warmth. Before he knew it, he was near her, just to feel her heat, her light, on his body. She seemed shocked at his closeness, and stumbled away at first. But as they ate dinner together, they found they couldn't stop staring at each other. And after dinner, when he told her of his powers, he didn't mind when she hugged him, and thanked him again.

He didn't regret it._ Being _with her for a night, then leaving. He regretted that she may have to life with that mistake for the rest of her life, but he didn't regret _being_ with her. He left at midnight, to finish the Potter's. As he watched them just before his attack, he saw the way Lily Potter looked at her son. With love. Fickle love. Even as he thought of that witch, and thought of her death, his mind couldn't help but wander to the witch across the country, still sleeping, not knowing of his great sins. And as he looked upon the loving Potter family, he knew…he was going to enjoy this. Putting an end to the cycle of love that he knew he could never be a true part of.

But his last thought, as he realized that this was the end for him, that the Potter boy had something he did not, was that he wanted to see that witch again. One last time.

Nine months later, Susan Lightwell was born. No one knew about her except a doctor and nurse, who made her a ward of the state after her mother died in childbirth. And frankly, no one cared about the daughter of Voldemort.


	2. July 31

"Wake up!"

"I said wake up, darn it!"

"Don't you make me come in there!"

"Fine! You will _so _be sorry bee-itch!"

Crap. I pushed too far this morning. _Someone_ sure is Miss Impatient. I looked at my _actual_ alarm clock, though it didn't function as that any more. 9:15. Ugh. I crawled out of my bed and pulled on my sweatshirt. I didn't have to change until the last minute, thank goodness. I never took very long.

I was gonna get in a lot of trouble this morning already, though. Every morning, my "sister", Hannah, and I played a sort of game. I stay in bed and measure her tone of voice until I don't think I can get away with it any longer. As of late, her temper's been getting shorter and shorter. Yesterday she told Margaret on me after just one warning.

Margaret is in charge of our foster home. Ours isn't very big, just Hannah, Jeffery, Sarah, and I. The rest of them are all like a big family. I'm the exception to the rule.

But why limit it to just my foster home? I'm the exception to _all_ the rules. All the girls at my lunch table chatter uncontrollably. Except me. All the people in my science class like dissecting snakes. Except me. Everybody belongs. Except me.

I can live like that, I guess. It's not like people _don't _like me. It's just that they don't _not_ like me, either.

I wish I had someone to talk to, though. All this weird stuff has been happening. I keep seeing this kid in my dreams. He has jet-black hair, and this weird scar. And every time I dream about him, I wake up with my forehead throbbing. He doesn't do anything, either. Just sits there, looking scared. Terrified, actually. Like He knows something life-threatening is behind me, but I can't turn around and check.

I dreamed about that kid last night, too. But last night, for the first time, he looked happy. Like for the first time, his life was going in a good direction. And while he still looked at me with a strange fear in his eyes, he gave the impression that he knew something that I didn't, something that would never allow him to fear me like that again. And there was someone else with him last night. A huge, HUGE man in a traveler's cloak. The man didn't seem to acknowledge me. He just looked at the boy, and expression in his eyes that I'd never seen on anyone before. It was a happiness that was unmatched by any emotion.

Love?

"Susan! If you aren't up and dressed by the time I get up there, I swear you'll wake up every morning on time, due to painful injuries!"

"Alright, alright, I'm up!" I shouted to Margaret. She was a loving woman, really, but she couldn't stand tardiness. Not that I was tardy for anything yet, but I sure would be if I stayed in bed any longer.

I ambled down the hall to the bathroom. One advantage of waking up late: everybody's already used the bathroom, so there's no wait. I did my business, and brushed my hair. I always kept it up, so that it didn't get in my eyes. Today, it was in a makeshift bun.

I went down the stairs and into the kitchen. Margaret had made breakfast: waffles and pancakes. The table was all set, and everyone had already been seated. Hannah stuck out her tongue at me, and Jeffery reluctantly moved over on the bench to make room for me. I dug in to the already served food, then dumped my dishes in the sink and excused myself to get changed.

"Dishes in the dish washer!"

"Fine!" I said in exasperation. I rinsed off the dishes, put them in the dishwasher, and ran up the stairs. I grabbed the first pair of clothes I saw, and pulled them on. As with everything I tried on first, the outfit matched perfectly, and flattered me in all the right places. Hannah, also my roommate and "alarm clock", said that I was so lucky that everything looked so good on me. I never gave it much thought.

What I did give a lot of thought to was what had happened yesterday. Everyone was outside playing Red Rover, and I had just joined in. The other team called out my name, knowing that I was the most athletically challenged player in the country. Ready to be humiliated (yet again) for my lack of strength, I charged. But as soon as I got close to the other line, everyone flew out of the way. There was no other way to describe it. They were knocked aside like bowling pins.

The thing was, I didn't touch them. I wasn't even close enough for it to be thought that I touched them. They just flew into the air and landed on the grass. Afterward, it turns out Jeffery had several bruises and our neighbor, Virginia, was bleeding, because she had landed on the sidewalk and scratched herself. Naturally, this only decreased everyone's opinion of me.

But next school year, we were all going to a new school, because our old school was relocating, and our new school was closer. In this school, no one knew about how strange I was. I could be somebody new. _And I just have to wait one more month_ I thought with a smile as I looked at the calender.

July 31st


	3. Visitors

Cat Bailey: I'm so sorry I've haven't updated in a while, I was grounded and then I went on vacation

Cat Bailey: I'm so sorry I've haven't updated in a while, I was grounded and then I went on vacation!

The days went by, and my dreams of the boy happened increasingly. Nothing changed, really. But he seemed to be happy. And, strange as it may sound, that made me happy. I didn't want this boy, who was always so afraid in my dreams, to be unhappy, or scared.

About halfway through August, I was in my room reading a book. Everyone else was downstairs watching TV, and Hannah was chatting at 81 mph on the phone, while texting on her cell phone at the same time.

The doorbell rang. Margaret called, "Will someone get that!?" Naturally, four voices, including my own, called out, "Sure!" However, no one made a move to get the door. The doorbell started ringing frantically, and Margaret finally rushed up from the basement to answer it. 

"Hel-" Margaret stopped mid-word.

I heard muffled voices downstairs for a few minutes, then Margaret stammered, "S- Susan, I-I th-think it's for y-you."

I carefully put down my book, imagining all the possible things that could be going wrong downstairs. Maybe some criminal was holding Margaret at gunpoint, ordering her to call me downstairs so that he could…could what? Maybe I'd won the lottery. Except I wasn't eighteen yet, and had never bought a scratch card in my life. Maybe…maybe the hospital found out who my mother was! Maybe someone had come to adopt me! Maybe…

I crept downstairs, wary that something could be going horribly wrong right now. When I reached the foyer, I nearly fainted.

There, standing in the doorway, were two very familiar people. The black haired boy from my dream, and the giant who had recently appeared in the same dream. The giant grinned at me, and for the first time I saw his eyes, black and beady, but filled with a warmth that reached across the room and enveloped me. The boy looked at me with a curious expression. But behind that, I thought I saw just a flicker of…fear?

"Umm…" Margaret hesitated, "I'll let you get acquainted. Susan, why don't you show these men to your room?"

"Y-yes," I managed to get out, and in silence I led them up to the room I shared with Hannah.

Once there, I motioned to the beds, inviting my visitors to sit. The giant plopped himself onto Hannah's bed, causing the springs to scream in pain, and for I moment I worried he'd broken the bed. But the bed stabilized.

Obviously worried that the bed wouldn't hold anymore weight, the boy took a seat on my bed.

"Well, now," said the giant, "I'm Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. I'll be taking you along now. Are ya all packed?"

What the hell is going on?


	4. Witch? Who, Me?

Cat Bailey: Again, sorry these aren't coming out very quickly, but I've been really busy lately. Oh, and I think that I'm going to start another story soon. But I should probably finish at least one of mine first. Oh, and I don't own Harry Potter or the letter mentioned. The only thing I own is Susan and the foster home (and it's occupants).

What the hell is going on?

Confusion washes over me, clouding my vision, and obliterating the outside world. What was Hogwarts? What did he mean he'd be "taking" me? And what kind of a name is Rubeus? These questions, and thousands of others, raced through my mind during the course of five seconds. At the end of that time span, I'd collapsed on my bed, breathing heavily. In, out, in, out. Okay, I think I'm under control now. At least, that's what I thought until the giant continued.

"Are ya all right, Susan? Ya Okay?" the giant looked at me with concern in his voice and eyes. The boy continued staring at me, though he didn't seem as frightened.

"What…the…heck…are you talking…about?" I managed to stammer faintly.

"Well, Hogwarts, 'o course!" the giant, Rubeus, said, "We'll be picking up yer things on the way. Come on, now, best be getting' off! By the way, yeh can call me Hagrid."

"Hagrid, are you sure she got her letter?" the boy spoke for the first time. I looked over at him again, and this time I held his gaze. He spoke, like the giant, with a British accent. His eyes were a beautiful green color, I noticed, and…that scar! The lightening scar! I couldn't believe he actually got a scar that was so conveniently shaped.

"What letter?" I asked. I never received mail, as opposed to Hannah, who was always getting offers for makeup, magazine subscriptions, and the lot.

"Did you get a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" the boy asked, obviously filling in for the giant as the giant appeared to be at a loss for words. Apparently, he couldn't fathom that I didn't know what he was talking about.

But now, I knew this was all one big gag. Witchcraft? Wizardry? Whoever thought of this radically overestimated how gullible I was. I decided I'd put a stop to this before it got too far.

"Okay, Okay, joke's over. You honestly thought I'd fall for it, didn't you?" I said. Looking around the room, trying to spot a hidden camera, I said, "You guys can come out now, I know what's going on!" Really, who could have thought this up? Hannah? No, she didn't have the brainpower. Sarah? Nope, she was too shy and introverted. Jeremy didn't care enough, and Margaret was too kind. Who then?

"I think we should give her a copy," said the boy. The Hagrid apparently agreed, because he took out of one of his numerous pockets a letter, on a piece of…parchment? I've never actually seen parchment in real life. Didn't they use it in like, the middle ages? Weird.

I accepted the letter, opened the envelope, and began to read.

**Dear Miss Lightwell,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as a foreign student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 20.**

**Yours Sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall,**

**_Deputy Headmistress_**

"Owl..?" I whispered.

"Golly, that reminds me!" Hagrid took from his coat (What was it doing in his coat?) an owl, gave it a letter, then set it free. It flew right out the open window, apparently a destination set in it's mind. "Now then, ya know what I'm here for now?"

I gulped. "You came to take me to this…Hogwarts place, and you're trying to convince me that I'm a…a…a _witch?!_" Come on. I mean, I'm not _that_ mean!

"Yep. First one that slipped through Dumbledore's notice for as long as you did. We didn't know about you 'till we got reports of underage magic being used in America! Not that you're the only magical child in this hemisphere, but there are quite a few less, if ya know what I mean."

A part of me still believed that this was a joke, a cruel trick. But another part filled with hope. I've never fit in. The Red Rover incident. Weird coincidences. They all connected. So… that means…I believed what this guy was saying! Releif washed over me, releif that I wasn't alone, that weird stuff didn't happen to _just_ me.

The boy was relentless with his staring. But when I smiled with acceptence, so did he.

"Well, are you coming with us?" He asked.

Within twenty minutes, I was all packed for a few nights' stay and had said my goodbyes. The other kids looked surprised and confused, but something told me that Margaret had known all along. I made a mental note to question her later.

As I stepped out of my house and into the waiting car, I felt a sense of wholeness, a sense that I belonged, for once in my life.

Curteously, the boy opened the side door for me, and as I stepped in, the boy said, "By the way, my name is Harry Potter."


End file.
